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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Monday Dramas: Secret Life & Switched at Birth

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

The Secret Life of the American Teenager "Flip Flop" (S04E09): Adrian talks with her doctor about her desire to get pregnant again, and says that she wants a baby even if Ben doesn't. [this is not news, but I'm surprised she's at her doctor's office... she already spoke with the doctor on the phone several episodes ago...] Her doctor tells her to pick a new dream - she's only 18, after all. So, Adrian announces that her new goal is to get Ricky. [oh geez. I hoped against hope that this wasn't what she was going to say.]

Nora is getting on Shaker's nerves (Shaker is Ricky's foster dad, if you don't remember this third- or fourth-tier character). Ricky agrees that Nora could stay with him or in his apartment for a few days. Margaret drops off Nora at the Juergens home, and Nora isn't thrilled she's more or less being babysat by teenagers.

Anne tells George to get a non-passive job. George tells Anne that if she wants part of the business, she has to give him part of the house. George says he has to ask Donovan about adding Anne as a partner.

Adrian calls Grace and tells her she's going to get what she wants... and Grace knows that means Ricky. Adrian then asks Ben to go ahead and move out of the condo pronto. Ben tells Adrian that he knows about her previous plan (courtesy of Leo), and throws it in her face, telling her that he's not leaving just because her plan didn't work. [haha. I love it when things don't go as Adrian wishes.] So, Adrian confronts Grace about telling Amy, and says that they can't be friends anymore... which leads to Grace calling Amy and telling her that Adrian's going after Ricky.

Ruben catches Adrian in her bedroom at home staring out the window - she tells him she wants a divorce, and he catches on really fast to the fact that she's going for Ricky. [yeah... it's pretty obvious to everyone.] Ruben also calls Ben and asks him to keep loving Adrian.

George comes home and runs into Nora, who has apparently never met Adrian. It doesn't take long for Nora to ask George about renting Ashley's room, and he's willing to do that. [okay, maybe Ashley isn't coming back anytime soon?] Adrian then goes to the Juergens house too, telling Ricky and Amy that she and Ben are over. [you know, since she's only told them a couple times before...] Amy confronts Adrian the second Ricky leaves the room. [but Amy's not harsh enough to deal with Adrian. We need Ashley back to put that b!tch in her place.] When Amy confronts Ricky, he claims he needs the night to himself but they can spend the next night together. [aka he's going to go be with someone, Adrian or not...] Amy listens to two of Ricky's voicemails from Adrian when he walks in to find his phone... and he doesn't say anything apologetic.

Adrian tells Ben AGAIN (who hasn't done much this episode except tell Henry and Alice that he wants to drink) that she loves Ricky and wants to be with Ricky. Ben goes to Leo, who is shocked that Adrian is still in love with Ricky. Also at the Sausage King's place, Betty wants to go to college so she could be independent and educated. [guess that's how they're going to write her off...]

[Overall, this was a pretty useless episode. They spent 40 minutes going over what they could have covered in five or ten minutes.]

Switched at Birth "The Homecoming" (S01E10): Daphne is at Emmett's, talking about a fundraiser for the school. It's going well until he reveals that he has a car wash lined up... that he set in motion through Bay, which gets Daphne suspicious. It doesn't help that Emmett has photos in his room of Bay, which causes Daphne to ask what's going on. Daphne flips, bringing up the fact that Emmett said he'd never date a hearing girl. [yeah, I questioned that last week. but teenagers can be fickle, so I still believe its plausibility.]

At the school, Angelo looks at one of Bay's paintings and reveals himself after just a few moments. [I can't stand Bay's first outfit in this episode!] He claims he just found out, so he wanted to see her. When John comes by, Bay lies about Angelo's identity, saying he's a gallery owner and parent of student at the school. When he leaves, Angelo tells Bay that he's in town for three days at a hotel, and if she'd like to see him, she can find him there. Bay isn't sure what she wants, but Emmett convinces her to see Angelo. Turns out, he read the story in the paper. Angelo is Italian, French, and Algerian, which Bay appreciates finding out. Next thing you know, he invites her to Europe for the summer. [now this is getting creepy. out of nowhere...] Bay asks about what happened between him and Regina, and he says he needs more time to tell her that, as she's only giving him fifteen minutes at the moment. Bay says that she doesn't want things to go on in secret, and he agrees that they can do it however she wants. [I'm surprised at both of them. I kinda saw this going in the direction of The Baby-sitters Club's Kristy... seeing her dad secretly with nobody else being aware for the LONGEST time...] Bay brings Angelo to her home, this time identifying who he really is to her parents. John and Kathryn want to know why he didn't call first, saying it was strange that he just showed up at the school. [and they're absolutely right!] John tells Angelo that he is not welcome as Daphne comes in... John and Kathryn try to get her out, but Bay tells her who he is, and Daphne demands to know what he has to say. She then leaves, and later tells Regina that she doesn't want to see Angelo again.

John and Kathryn meet with the lawyer again, and she presents them with a new offer, which doesn't even include an apology. [ugh. this storyline is still going on? I'm kinda bored of it, so I hope it wraps up pretty soon when this show comes back...] But, Angelo has a signed affidavit that shows the nurse on record at the time the girls were born had worked 48 hours straight, which is a document John knows this will help his case. Shift records are destroyed after ten years, so the lawyer didn't find any of that, and the interview with the nurse revealed she couldn't remember her shift hours from a random day so long ago. The lawyer suggests that Angelo might have bribed the nurse, since it's strange that she's just now remembering. [this is why I'm not a lawyer... I might not have come up with that conclusion. Makes sense though, and I'm really not finding anything trustworthy about Angelo...]

Regina gets her first check, and 60% was taken for the salon, which she's upset about. [that does sound like a lot... but what do I know?] This prompts her to want to open her own salon, and she has Adriana's and Kathryn's approval. But, when she goes to get a loan, she has very little collateral, and it's suggested she get a co-signer. [...and it's starting to look as if Kathryn might help out... not just financially but at the actual storefront as well... I have mixed thoughts on this.]

Daphne confronts Bay about Emmett. Daphne claims that Bay will never know Emmett, and Bay claims that Daphne only likes him at the moment because of her life problems. [good point, I agree.] Not surprisingly, soon afterward, Daphne confesses to Emmett that she started to like him, and he gets upset, claiming that he's been waiting for her for eight years, listening to her talk about other guys, and he doesn't want to be a security blanket. [good for you, Emmett. Sometimes a person in your situation just drops everything to be with a fickle person for a short time, since they're bored with you when you're not taken by other people.] Daphne says that it would have been dishonest not to tell him, and he kisses her. [loved watching them both sign at the same time... so intriguing and inspiring!] Emmett pulls away, telling her that he's with Bay.

Toby's band gets a gig in St. Louis, but they have to have Emmett in order for it to work. So, Toby and Wilke go to see Emmett at his school to ask him about the music festival, but Emmett isn't interested. [they also can't really figure out what Emmett is signing... apparently Toby isn't learning as much ASL as the rest of the family?]

At the car wash, Emmett gets upset that he can't understand a joke that isn't being signed, and tells Bay that he's tired of her not knowing signs and his having to lipread around her friends. Bay guesses that he's really picking the fight because Daphne told him she likes him... [good job, Bay. I probably wouldn't have figured that out when I was 16!] Later, Toby goes to Emmett and tells him not to treat Bay badly. [nice big brother move, Toby!]

In trying to wrap up multiple storylines to a certain extent, John suggests to Kathryn that Bay and Angelo can have a supervised weekly hone call, but Kathryn doesn't think that'll work. Emmett finds Bay and apologizes, saying that he just wants her... and we hear him vocalize for the first time in the series. [interesting idea, which I only partially saw coming. I'm not sure how that will play out, but so cute and romantic at the time!] Emmett agrees to go with the guys to the music festival. Wilke tells Toby he's into Daphne as they drive off. [okay, so Toby is going to act as a big brother to both girls... this could be an interesting branch...] Daphne tells Bay that she's not giving up on having Emmett. [okay, saw that coming. Hope Daphne isn't a secret prankster or something!] Angelo says he is headed back to Chicago, but when he talks to Regina (with Kathryn seeing but not overhearing) he tells her that he's not leaving. He wants to stay and be a family again... and share his part of the lawsuit with her. [criminals. figured.]
[mid-season finale, expected to return in 2012]